Silicone Chemistry

Silicones are synthetic polymers formed from quartz sand (silicon and oxygen) and other products of nature, and uniquely able to withstand nature’s many extremes.

Silicones are the “missing link” between organic and inorganic chemistry.

Silicones have unique properties other polymers cannot match.

By changing the size or structure of the silicone molecule or by adding different compounds to it, you can enhance or change the way it behaves.

The secret to silicone’s amazing capabilities lies in its flexible Si-O-Si backbone.

Improving the Quality of Our Lives

Silicones enable the design of thinner, smaller, faster electronic devices.

Silicones make our cars safer, more reliable, and less costly to maintain.

Silicones make our homes and offices safer, healthier places to live and work.

Household appliances manufactured with silicones are more dependable and require less maintenance.

Silicones protect power transmission equipment from environmental damage and help keep the electricity flowing.

Silicones enable address labels to peel off easily and industrial tapes to stick tightly to difficult surfaces.

Silicones make towels fluffier and more absorbent and help protect skiers from injury during a fall.

An Amazing Range of Capabilities

Silicones are a huge group of products that happen to share some very useful traits ... like stability at high temperatures and resistance to age, sunlight, moisture, temperature extremes, and chemicals.

Silicones can take many different forms and perform hundreds of different jobs.

Silicones can be hard and brittle, or soft and flexible.

Silicones can be liquids or solids, durable or temporary.

Silicones can adhere or release.

Silicones can be hydrophobic (repel water) or hydrophilic (absorb water).

Silicones can make things soft, smooth, and silky or hard, rough, and tacky.

Silicones can destroy foam or stabilize it.

Proven Performance

Structural silicone sealants installed in buildings around the world in the 1980s are still performing today.

Approximately half of all makeup, hair and skin care, and underarm products introduced today contain silicone.

Silicone finishes are widely recognized as the best materials for increasing the softness of fabrics and enhancing the way they feel.

Silicone defoamers have been used extensively in pulp washing operations worldwide since the early 1990s.

Virtually any electronic device that is powered by batteries or electric current relies on silicones.

Competitive Advantages

Silicones perform under conditions that would defeat organic (carbon-based) materials, are more effective at lower levels, and provide unique solutions to difficult problems.

Silicone architectural coatings typically last twice as long as acrylic coatings, and silicone building sealants typically last three times as long as urethane sealants.

High-voltage-insulator silicone coatings perform for 10 years or more, while some other protection methods must be reapplied every 18-36 months. Imagine the long-term cost savings of silicone.

A silicone antifoam that costs twice as much as an organic antifoam can actually cost half as much to use.

Adding as little as 1.1¢ worth of silicone to a typical 300-gram hair-conditioning rinse doubles dry combing benefits and increases shine by 20%.

A single silicone paint additive can provide as many as five different performance benefits.

A specially formulated silicone release coating system lets label manufacturers reduce their coat weights as much as 15-25 percent and use lower-cost base papers.

Safety, Sustainability, and Resource Conservation

Silicones have been used safely and successfully in personal care products for more than 30 years and have been the subject of more than 5,000 studies.

In the environment, polydimethylsiloxane fluid breaks down into water, carbon dioxide, and minerals already found in the earth’s crust.

If an organic sealant needs to be cut out and replaced every seven years, the amount of garbage produced and solvents used will be at least three times greater than if a longer-lasting silicone sealant had been used.

Many silicone fluids and elastomers can be recycled.

Silicones help manufacturers eliminate water-wasting process steps and reduce the use of air-polluting solvents.

Silicones help automakers comply with an entire alphabet of environmental laws and regulations ... RoHS, EPA, CARB LEV (Low-Emission-Vehicle), WEEE, Euro 4, Euro 5, EU law 1999/13/EC, and more.